The present invention relates, in one aspect, to a disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pad for use in a hand held cleaning implement of the type having an elongated handle. One well known type of hand held cleaning implement having an elongated handle and which uses a disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pad is the sponge mop. In a second aspect, the present invention relates to improved backing plates or attachment structures for disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pads for attaching the cleaning pads to the elongated handle.
Sponge mops are well known and widely used for cleaning hard surfaces, including flooring surfaces such as hardwood floors, ceramic tile floors, marble floors and the like. The liquid with which these mops are intended to be used is usually water or some type of aqueous cleaning solution. Sponge mops usually include an elongated handle, a disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pad having a layer of sponge material which is used for cleaning and moisture absorbing and a head. The cleaning pad also includes an attachment structure for attaching the cleaning pad to the head of the mop, the construction of the attachment structure depending on the particular type of mop. After being used a number of times, the cleaning pad is usually discarded and replaced with a refill cleaning pad. Examples of the layer of sponge material are natural sponges, polyester foams, polyurethane foams, cellulose and absorbent arrays of synthetic fibers.
The three most common types of sponge mops are the squeeze mop, the butterfly mop and the roller mop.
One very well known type of squeeze mop includes a handle, a head attached to the handle, a mounting plate attached to the head, a disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pad which includes a layer of sponge material and a backing plate, the layer of sponge material being fixedly secured to the backing plate, means for removably attaching the backing plate to the mounting plate and a squeeze plate hingedly attached to the mounting plate for extracting liquid collected by the cleaning pad during use and for rinsing the cleaning pad.
Butterfly mops differ from squeeze mops among other things in that the cleaning pad is mounted on a pair of hinged wing plates which are coupled to the head of the mop rather than a mounting plate. The pair of hinged wing plates can open and close in much the same way as the wings do on a butterfly in order to remove liquid from the cleaning pad.
Roller mops differ from squeeze mops among other things in that they include a pair of rollers rather than a squeeze plate for squeezing water from the cleaning pad.
Sponge mops very often also include a layer of scrubber material or a scrubber brush for cleaning excessively soiled areas.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,086 to A. J. Whyte, there is disclosed a squeeze mop which includes a compressible head of sponge rubber or the like and a wringing mechanism which comprises a presser plate pivotal into compressive engagement with the mop head, an operating lever pivotally mounted on the mop handle, a cam lever pivotally connected to the operating lever and a cam disposed on the end of the cam lever such that actuation of the operating handle causes the cam to reciprocate over the surface of the presser plate while pivotally urging the presser plate into compressive engagement with the mop head.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,945 to W. D. Price, there is disclosed a squeeze mop which comprises a backing plate upon which both a sponge and a scrubber strip have been separately mounted so as to expose an edge of the backing plate having the scrubber strip for use as a cleaning tool. The backing plate may be heated and thereafter the sponge may be heat fused to the backing plate and the scrubber strip may be heat fused to the backing plate in perpendicular fashion to the sponge so as to expose an edge of the backing plate for use as a cleaning tool.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,494 to R. A. Cann, there is disclosed a butterfly mop which includes a self-contained wringing mechanism comprising only two molded parts, an actuating lever and an enclosed yoke. A pair of hinged wings can be internally molded onto one end of the actuating lever, and the lever can rotate back and forth within the enclosed yoke. Guides within the yoke can swing the wings closed when the lever is moved forward, squeezing a detachable pad. The mechanical advantage of the actuating lever can be increased as it is moved forward. Moving the lever back to its original position can cause the wings to swing back open, aided by the compression of the sponge.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,750 to P. S. Vosbikian, there is disclosed a butterfly mop which is used for routine surface cleaning and moisture absorbing mopping and an integral unitary mop scrubber attachment with an outer abrasive surface which is to be used on the head of the sponge mop for cleaning more difficult and ingrained soiled surfaces. The mop scrubber attachment consists of two detent tabs which are to be inserted into the existing cutouts located in the sponge support member of the mop. The scrubber attachment also has side holes for placement over the existing holes of the mop's support member, through which the ends of the mop's squeeze arms are inserted. The mop scrubber attachment is readily and easily removable from the sponge mop and is interchangeably designed to be used with existing or new butterfly sponge mops. In another embodiment the mop scrubber attachment and the mop's sponge support member is formed with the scrubber component as a single, molded plastic component.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,727,259 to F. G. Wilson, there is disclosed a roller mop which comprises a wringer mop head replacement and actuator mechanism including a pair of spaced parallel wringer rollers carried at the lower end of a housing through which housing extends an operating crank upward through a hollow handle to pivotal securement with a pivoted crank handle, and which operating crank detachably connects at its lower end to the mop head by means of a cooperating snap-latch carried by the mop head. The crank handle is shiftable between up and detented center positions to similarly shift the operating crank and wring out the mop head by passing it between the rollers, and is shiftable to a down position to expel the mop head and lower end of the operating crank from the housing and from between the rollers to completely expose the snap-latch connection for fast mop head replacement. The mop head snap-latch consists of an inverted channel member holding a sponge absorbent element by compression of a marginal edge of the sponge between the channel member walls, the center of the channel base wall having an upstanding tunnel formation into which the operating crank lower end hook arm is slidable with the latter held in position by a shiftable latch plate biased resiliently upward by the sponge material to capture the hook arm.
In U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0028309A1 there is disclosed a butterfly mop having an elongate shaft with a mop element disposed at one end of the shaft and a wringer connected to the shaft and the mop element. In preferred embodiments, the wringer includes a channel body having first and second leg portions defining a channel there between. The mop element includes a foldable, compressible, liquid-absorbent member, a mounting element having first and second support portions connected by a flexible member, and a scrubber mounted to the mounting element. The mop element and channel body are movable relative to one another, whereby the mop element may be drawn into the channel causing the mop element to fold along a central transverse axis and to become compressed between the channel body leg portions. The wringer includes a handle and an actuator link connecting the handle to one of the mop element and channel body for effecting relative hinged movement thereof. In some embodiments, the mop element includes a support that has first and second support portions and a flexible member connecting the first and second support portions. In certain embodiments, a fastener having a barbed shaft is used to connect the mop element to the wringing mechanism to the mop.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,920 to W. J. O'Neil, Jr. et al. there is disclosed a roller mop having a scrubber attachment which is fixedly mounted thereon without any extra, attaching hardware. The scrubber attachment carries a scrubber pad and is fixedly secured to the mop head at a predetermined angle. This combination yields a mop capable of both conventional sponge cleaning and of abrasively rubbing to effect further cleansing treatment of a surface without the risk of moving the scrubber out of operative position during use.
In U.S. RE 37,415E there is disclosed roller sponge mop which is used for routine floor surface or similar surface cleaning and moisture absorbing mopping is combined with an integral mop attachment with an outer abrasive surface, designed and formed to be positioned within a wall surface of the lower frame ofthe mop, to be used for cleaning more difficult and ingrained soiled surfaces. The attachment is removable and interchangeable for use on similarly configured roller mops. The sponge mop roller squeeze feature is actuated by a cammed lever which is rotatably connected to the mop's handle and is positioned adjacent to a sleeve slidable mounted on the handle. At its lower end, the sleeve comprises the frame which carries the mop attachment and connects to the mop's rollers. The bias action of a spring at the lower end of the handle maintains the sponge element of the mop in the cleaning position. As the lever is moved against the sleeve and toward the rollers, the handle is caused to move away from the rollers, drawing the sponge element between the rollers, squeezing dirt and water out of the sponge member. Releasing the lever causes the spring to return the handle and the sponge member to the cleaning position. Tabs on the sleeve and camming lever interact to lock the sleeve and handle to hold and maintain the sponge element between the rollers independent of the use of manually exertion. In this manner, the abrasive surface can be sued without interference from the extended sponge element. A handle attachment piece is secured at one end to the handle and at the other end comprises bottom walls. The bottom walls are self-aligning with corresponding ridged openings on the channel member which holds the sponge element. This alignment system allows for simply and easily replacement ofthe sponge element of the mop.
There is currently in the marketplace a hand held disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pad especially useful in cleaning walls, bathroom and kitchen fixtures and the like which is rectangularly shaped and which consists of a layer of sponge material bonded to a layer of flexible open cell foam material made from melamine resin. The layer of flexible open cell foam material is manufactured by BASF Corporation in Ludingshaffen, Germany and sold under the name BASOTECT. The layer of flexible open cell foam material made from melamine resin and bonded to the layer of sponge material is marketed by Proctor & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio under the name Magic Eraser. In use, the layer of open cell foam material is the layer that contacts the surface to be cleaned. The length, width and thickness of the pad is about 4 ¾ inches by 2 ½ inches by 1 1/16 inches and the thickness of the layer of flexible open cell foam material is about ⅞ of an inch.
Although sponge mops comprising a disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pad are generally adequate for their intended purpose, they are not always completely satisfactory in successfully removing all types of soils from hard surfaces.
Also, because of structural differences in the mop heads, a refill cleaning pad made for one manufacturer's mop will not always fit onto another manufacturer's mop of the same type. Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved hand held cleaning implement of the type having an elongated handle and a disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pad.
It is another object of this invention to provide a disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pad for a hand held cleaning implement which has a backing plate constructed such that the cleaning pad can be used with more than one type of hand held cleaning implement.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a new and improved refill for a hand held cleaning implement of the type having an elongated handle and a disposable liquid absorbing cleaning pad.